Saeima elects Raimonds Vējonis as President of Latvia

On Wednesday, 3 June, Raimonds Vējonis was elected as the President of Latvia. In the fifth round of elections, using a secret ballot, 55 MPs voted for and 42 MPs voted against Vējonis.

Pursuant to the Constitution, the President of Latvia is elected with a majority of at least 51 votes.

Raimonds Vējonis was the Minister for Defence. He was elected to the 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th convocations of the Saeima, and he was the Minister for Environment for several years. Raimonds Vējonis has obtained a master’s degree in biology from the University of Latvia.

There were four nominees for the office of the President of Latvia, namely, Mārtiņš Bondars, Sergejs Dolgopolovs, Raimonds Vējonis and Egils Levits.

According to the Rules of Procedure of the Saeima, if none of the nominees is supported by a majority of at least 51 votes in the first round of elections, runoff elections are held for all candidates. If no one is elected during the runoff elections, the election procedure is repeated by excluding in each subsequent round the candidate who has received the least number of votes in the previous round.

Elections were held in five rounds. In the first round, Mārtiņš Bondars was supported by 7 MP while 86 MPs voted against his candidacy, Sergejs Dolgopolovs received 23 votes in his favour and 70 votes against, Raimonds Vējonis was supported by 34 MPs while 59 MP voted against him, and Egils Levits received 24 votes cast in his favour and 69 votes against.

In the second round, Mārtiņš Bondars received 7 votes in favour and 89 votes against his candidacy, Sergejs Dolgopolovs received 24 votes in favour and 72 votes against, while Raimonds Vējonis was supported by 34 MPs and rejected by 62 MPs, and Egils Levits was supported by 25 votes and rejected by 71 votes.

In the third round, 23 MPs voted in favour and 73 MPs voted against Sergejs Dolgopolovs, Raimonds Vējonis received 35 votes in favour and 61 votes against, and Egils Levits received 26 votes in favour and 70 votes against.

In the fourth round, Raimonds Vējons was supported by 46 votes and rejected by 52, while Egils Levits received 26 votes in favour and 72 votes against.

In the fifth round, MPs voted only on Raimonds Vējonis, who received 55 votes in favour and 42 votes against his candidacy.